Running head: THE DIGITAL STORYTELLING APPROACH

The Digital Storytelling Approach

Action Research Proposal

Christine Hulme
87305124
ETEC 500
UBC
S. Carey
April 7, 2013









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Abstract
The proposed action research study will examine the impact of integrating a digital
storytelling approach in the classroom on students writing skills and their attitudes about
writing. The study will take place over a three-month period, with participants from two grade 6
classrooms from an elementary school in West Vancouver with a high English Language Learner
(E.L.L.) population. The study will use an experimental and a control group to compare
students writing skills and their attitudes about writing. The digital storytelling approach
utilizes the iMovie application on the Apple iPad to create video clips for a digital storytelling
assignment, in comparison to a traditional methods of story writing such as with paper or through
word processing. In doing so, the study will seek to provide information with relation to
integrating technology into the Language Arts curriculum.
Introduction
Storytelling is a powerful way to communicate, share, and interpret experiences. Stories
can be used as an effective educational tool to present information and writing stories is one
component of the writing curriculum in elementary classrooms. With technology playing an
increasingly important role in todays classrooms, a modern approach to storytelling can be
explored. Digital storytelling uses accessible technology to create a story. According to Alan
Davis, digital storytelling is a form of short narrative, usually a personal narrative told in the
first person, presented as a short movie for display on a television or computer monitor or
projected onto a screen (2004, p. 1). Emerging technologies make it possible to see such stories
on a screen. For the purposes of the proposed study, digital storytelling is a process of creating a
short movie with various multimedia components such as images, music and narration.
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Purpose
It is the West Vancouver School Districts goal that as students progress through their
elementary grades; they will develop effective and ethical uses of technology both at school
and at home (Digital Literacy in West Vancouver, 2011). As educators, we can help
facilitate the effective and ethical uses through integrating technology into the classroom.
The proposed study will investigate the impact of digital storytelling on students writing and on
their attitudes about writing. The results of this study will support the grade 6 writing program in
a West Vancouver school with a high English Language Learner (E.L.L.) population while
fulfilling the districts goal to increase the digital literacy of the student population.
Research Question
The proposed study will seek to answer this central question:
How does digital storytelling with the iMovie application on the Apple iPad compare
with traditional storytelling methods using paper and word processing for grade 6
students at Hollyburn Elementary?
In addition, the following guiding questions have been formulated in order to guide the data
collection process.
(a) Does the digital storytelling approach improve students writing?
(b) Is there a link between an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) rich
environment and improved language learning?
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(c) Do students attitudes change towards writing with the implementation of digital
storytelling?
Hypothesis
I hypothesize digital storytelling methods will have a positive effect on students writing
skills and on their attitudes about writing. I believe that students employing the digital
storytelling approach will receive a higher number of fully meeting expectations on the
performance standards as opposed to the students using storytelling through word processing
only. I believe the students completing the digital story will be more motivated to complete their
assignment and in turn the quality will be of a higher standard. This hypothesis can be justified
by examining the current research on digital storytelling and student writing.
Literature Review
Writing
Writing is a key component of the grade 6 Language Arts curriculum. Students create
their own literary works and they explore an increasing variety of literary techniques, such as
figurative language, imagery, and mood to create effects. A story that fully meets expectations
according to BC performance standards includes a complete, generally straightforward, easy to
follow story, with some engaging description, detail and few errors. (BC, IRP, 2006).

Ballast, Stephens and Radcliffe (2008) examine the use of digital storytelling as an
instructional tool in middle school setting. Writing skills and attitudes of grade 6 students were
measured before and after a six-week writing unit that allowed each student to create a digital
story. Data collected from scored writing samples and from responses to an attitude towards
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writing survey were compared to data from a control groups writing samples and responses to
the survey. Additionally, qualitative data was collected through interviews with teachers and
students observations of the experimental groups classroom interactions. Each group included
approximately 50 students who attended two different middle schools in Central Texas. Student
performance levels were measured by standardized state tests and district measurements. The
two different teachers shared similar teaching philosophies and both used the writing workshop
approach for writing instruction. Both groups of students were engaged in technology-based
writing projects for the final six weeks of school. The experimental group created digital stories
and the control group wrote Word documents to upload into an online class magazine. Both
groups of students had comparable writing skills seven months prior to the writing assignment.
By the end of the assignment, the experimental group had statistically higher holistic and
analytic scores than the control group (Ballast, et al., 2008). Observational notes and follow-up
interviews with students in the experimental group indicated that the students were highly
engaged in the digital storytelling project and viewed their writing/scripts as an integral part of
the process. The teacher noted that several of her usually reluctant writers produced scripts that
exceeded the students typical writing skills both in quantity and quality.

Digital Storytelling as a Deep Learning Tool
Barrett (2006) explores the convergence of four student-centered learning strategies:
student engagement, reflection for deeper learning, project based learning, and the effective
integration of technology into instruction. These learning strategies can be facilitated through
digital storytelling activities. All of four of the strategies are currently at the forefront of
educational practices. Figure 1 shows this graphic representation.
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Figure 1. Convergence of Student-Centered Learning Strategies (Barrett, 2006).



Dogan and Robin (2008) conducted a workshop initiated by the University of Houston to
introduce K-12 teachers on digital storytelling and to explore how it could be used as an effective
teaching tool in their classrooms and as an effective learning tool for their students. The
participants in the study provided information in the use of digital storytelling in the classroom
and barriers they faced when implementing digital storytelling through surveys and interviews.
This triangulation of data from 31 participants concludes that teachers who used digital
storytelling in the classroom with their students reported they observed increases in certain skills
such as technical skills, increased presentation skills, research skills, organizational skills, and
writing skills with their students. Furthermore, the authors report, teachers who used digital
storytelling reported positive effects on student performance, an increase in 21st century skills,
and increased motivation and engagement levels in their students (Dogan and Robin, 2008).
Overall, teachers in this study reported that digital storytelling in general, had a positive effect on
the 21
st
century skills of their students. These skills are described in terms of five literacies
digital, global, technology, visual, and information (Dogan and Robin, 2008).

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In Using Storytelling to Enhance Student Learning, Alterio (2002) promotes
storytelling as a way to enhance student learning. The benefits of the digital storytelling
approach include opportunities for reflective dialogue, collaboration, and inquiry. Storytelling is
an ideal teaching and learning tool, because students are given the opportunity to use their own
experiences in the creation process. Storytelling also has the capacity to support and enhance the
relationship between students creating new knowledge and learning from others. In addition,
sharing and reflectively processing stories provides students with opportunities to develop
authentic relationships with their peers (Alterio, 2002).

Banaszewski (2005) asserts the personal narrative genre of digital storytelling is effective
in representing an individuals voice. Personal narrative-based digital storytelling facilitates
authentic writing purposes for students and provides valuable opportunities for identity
construction (Banaszewski, 2005). Banaszewski argues technologys role in students social
development and student voices should be recognized and encouraged in schools. Similar to
Dogan and Robin (2008), Banaszewski emphasizes that effective digital stories combine story
literacy with visual and media literacy to meet multi-literacies of students growing up in the
Information Age.

Digital Storytelling as a Reflection Tool
Condy, Chigona, Gachago and Ivala (2012) introduced digital storytelling to a group of
pre-service intermediate and senior phase students at Cape Peninsula University of Technology
in their final year. To shift from traditional understandings of literacies to explore diverse
modes of meaning-making, the students were given the option of either completing a digital
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story or a paper-based portfolio. They were required to reflect on the roles of a teacher from the
last four years of teacher preparation education. Of the 59 students, 29 students chose to present
their portfolio in the form of a digital story. The students came from diverse cultural, linguistic
and class backgrounds. Analysis of the findings of the study shows that as a teaching approach,
digital storytelling helped the pre-service teachers develop personally and professionally (Condy,
et al., 2012). The students perceived digital storytelling as a beneficial teaching tool in
multicultural classrooms because it encourages the understanding of the differences existing
among learners in a classroom (Condy, et al., 2012). Given storytellings essential role in
learning, meaning-making and knowledge development, it is not unexpected to find digital
storytelling being part of an undergraduate curriculum.

Project-based Digital Storytelling Approach
Hung, Hwang and Huang (2012) examine project-based digital storytelling as an
approach to improve the learning performance of students. This quasi-experimental study
combined project-based learning and digital storytelling strategies to conduct learning activities
in a science course for 117 grade 5 students in southern Taiwan. The 60 students in the
experimental group used Microsofts Photo Story to develop movies for storytelling, whereas the
57 students in the control group used conventional project-based learning methods. The digital
storytelling group took pictures with digital cameras, developed a story based on the pictures
taken, produced a film based on the pictures by adding subtitles and a background, and presented
the story. A triangulation of data was used, including a science learning motivation scale, a
problem-solving competence scale, and a science achievement test. The experimental results
show that the project-based learning with digital storytelling could effectively enhance the
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students science learning motivation, problem-solving competence, and learning achievement.
Feedback from the students confirm that the digital storytelling approach of project-based
learning was not only an interesting way for students to present their findings, but also an
opportunity for them to conduct active learning and organize their knowledge (Hung, et al.,
2012). Although it may be difficult to generalize the findings to other subjects, the students
employed the digital storytelling software to organize and collect data based on the knowledge
learned in class in a more interesting and understandable way (Hung, et al., 2012).

Digital Storytelling for E.L.L. students
Lees (2012) action research investigation explores how technology improves the
conditions of storytelling to help enhance the learning attitude and motivation of ELL children
using power point designs and an online recording system VoiceThread. Twenty Taiwanese
ELL children took part in a one-year project where survey questionnaires, storytellers
ethnographic notes, and teacher interviews were all triangulated to examine the progress in terms
of their changes in attitude, motivation, and responsiveness to storytelling and English learning.
One guiding question in Lees study was whether storytelling could serve as a better alternative
to help children acquire English? The second aspect of the study investigated if using
technology helps children comprehend the stories better, improve their learning motivation and
enhance their English learning in English class. Results showed that the improvement in their
attitude and motivation was substantial through more active responses to the stories presented
using technology (Lee, 2012). This study found the successful approaches to storytelling
include: making the story comprehensible and absorbing, vary according to childrens needs, and
tailoring to the childs reaction to the interactional situation between the child and the storyteller
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(Lee, 2012).

Gregori-Signes (2008) supports the adequacy of digital storytelling as a language
learning and teaching tool in the field of English Studies. She outlines four principals of the
digital storytelling framework and they are summarized as follows (Gregori-Signes, 2008):
i) Digital storytelling is innovative as it brings together new technologies with traditional means
of teaching and learning.
ii) For many new ELL learners, digital storytelling is very motivating because it is a brand new
activity with an attractive final product.
iii) Digital storytelling invites students to be creative and thus may help to introduce and
encourage different ways of learning/teaching English.
iv) Digital storytelling applications are easy to use and highly accessible. This flexibility allows
users to adapt the digital storytelling approach to a variety of subjects and genres.
Gregori-Signes (2008) also advocates digital storytelling as a skill development tool. The skills
include research and writing skills, organization skills, technology skills, presentation skills,
interpersonal skills, or problem-solving skills, which in turn, develop digital literacy, global
literacy, technology literacy, visual literacy and information literacy. Another advantage of
introducing digital storytelling within the ELL classroom is to help students enjoy the learning
process.
Yang and Wus article Digital storytelling for enhancing student academic achievement,
critical thinking, and learning motivation: A year-long experimental study explores the impact
of digital storytelling on high school ELL students. The one-year study adopted a pretest and
posttest quasi-experimental design involving 110 10th grade students in two English classes. The
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independent variable was information technology-integrated instruction on two different levels
lecture-type (comparison group) and digital storytelling (experimental group). Both quantitative
and qualitative data were collected, including English achievement and critical thinking scores,
questionnaire responses for learning motivation, as well as recordings of student and teacher
interviews for evaluating the effectiveness of digital storytelling in learning. The authors
findings indicate the digital storytelling participants performed significantly better than the
lecture type participants in terms of English achievement, critical thinking, and learning
motivation. Interview results highlight the important educational value of digital storytelling, as
both the instructor and students reported that digital storytelling increased students
understanding of course content, willingness to explore, and ability to think critically, factors
which are important in preparing students for an ever-changing 21st century (Yang and Wu,
2012).

Analysis of the Literature
The literature examines digital storytelling in classroom settings. It has a positive effect of
students writing skills and on their attitudes about writing. Digital storytelling presents a unique
opportunity for students to acquire much more than new technology skills. It enables them to
represent their voices in an unconventional manner while practicing the digital literacy skills that
will be important to their 21st century futures (Banaszewski, 2005). Digital storytelling is an
engagement tool as it blends traditional writing approaches with new technologies. The
literature supports the notion that digital storytelling brings about a number of benefits that
cannot be achieved via the traditional storytelling method. These benefits include increase in
motivation and personalization of the learning experiences. Although it is difficult to identify the
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conditions necessary to motivate students to reflect on their learning, the benefits of digital
storytelling such as increasing the students motivation make storytelling an ideal method for
telling personal stories.

Research Methodology
Participants:
Participants of the proposed study will be 48 grade 6 students from one elementary school in
West Vancouver, British Columbia. Two classes will be used at the school site, with one class
being the experimental group and the other class being the control group. The two classes are
comprised of 24 students each. One classroom includes seven E.L.L. students ranging in levels
from 1-4 of English Language Proficiency. The other classroom includes nine E.L.L. students
ranging in levels from 1-4 English Language Proficiency.
Instruments:


The British Columbia Performance Standards rubric for personal writing and writing stories will
be used to measure student writing. The four aspects highlighted in these rubrics include:
meaning (ideas and information), style (clarity and variety), form (development and sequence),
and conventions (spelling, punctuation and grammar). This instrument was chosen because it is
relevant for grade 6 writers and the expectations are clearly outlined. Figure 2 shows the rubric.


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Figure 2.
BC
Perform
ance Standards (2006).


Design:

Students will complete a writing assessment at the beginning of the project and then
again at the end of the project. Additionally, they will fill in a survey questionnaire at the
beginning and again at the end of the project. A third measure of data will be teacher
observations in the form of notes at the end of the project. This triangulation of data will allow
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for information to be cross-checked and ultimately strengthen the study. The purpose of
comparing the experimental with the control group is to determine the differences in writing
achievements between the students who used the digital storytelling approach and the students
who wrote stories on paper or using a word processing program such as Microsoft Word.

Procedures:

Prior to beginning the project, the grade 6 students will participate in a school-wide cold
write to collect information on their current writing ability. Writing will be assessed using the
BC Performance Standards Personal Writing Rubric (BC IRP, 2006). This data will be a
baseline assessment of not yet within expectations, meets expectations, fully meets expectations,
and exceeds expectations for grade 6. The students will also complete a survey using a rating
scale of 1-5 about their confidence and attitude towards writing.

Data will be gathered from two grade 6 classrooms to determine the effects of digital
storytelling when it is used as an instructional tool to teach writing. One classroom will be
identified as the experimental group where students are to complete a digital storytelling
assignment using the iMovie application on the Apple iPad. iMovie is an intuitive moviemaking
application where pictures, videos and music can be used to enhance a story. The other
classroom will be classified as the control group where students are to complete an assignment
using paper or Microsoft Word to input text only.

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Results will be calculated and compared from the beginning of the project to the end of
the project. Results will be used to determine whether the implementation of digital storytelling
improved students writing and motivation.
Timeline:

Date Experimental Group Control Group
mid September

School Wide Cold Write
(pre-data collection)
Survey given to students
School Wide Cold Write
(pre-data collection)
Survey given to students
October 1
st
- October 20
th


Digital Storytelling
Instruction
Storytelling Instruction
October 21
st
November
21
st


Digital Storytelling Project Storytelling Project
late November

Cold Write (post project
data collection)
Survey given to students
Teacher observations
Cold Write (post project
data collection)
Survey given to students
Teacher observations
early December

Analyze results and make
recommendations for the
following year
Analyze results and make
recommendations for the
following year


Ethical Considerations
All parents and guardians will be invited to attend an information session about the grade
6 storytelling project in September. The two different methods to storytelling will be clearly
defined. They will also receive a permission form requiring informed consent for their child to
be included in the study. Participant names will not be disclosed.
Discussion
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I believe the findings and results from this proposed study will impact the meaningful and
successful integration of technology in our school community. Storytelling is a valuable tool for
developing students communication skills. Since technology has been considered essential to
all areas of the curriculum, digital storytelling can be integrated into the current Language Arts
curriculum. Digital storytelling is a good way to engage students in both traditional and
innovative ways to presenting information. It is my hope that the findings from this study will
help develop the Language Arts curriculum through meaningful integration of technology.












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References

Alterio, M. (2002): Using storytelling to enhance student learning. Higher Education
Academy. Retrieved from:
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/resources/resourcedatabase/
id471_using_storytelling_to_enhance_learning.pdf (consulted: 2011-01-15).

Ballast, K.H., Stephens, L.C., & Radcliffe, R. (2008). The effects of digital storytelling on sixth
grade students writing and their attitudes about writing. In K. McFerrin et al. (Eds.),
Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International
Conference 2008. (pp/875-879).

Banaszewski, T. (2005). Digital storytelling, supporting digital literacy in grades 4-12. A thesis
presented to the academic Faculty, Georgia Institute of Technology. Retrieved August 3,
2009, from http://hdl.handle.net/1853/6966.

Barrett, H. (2006). Convergence of student-centered learning strategies. Technology and Teacher
Education Annual, 1, 647-654.

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2006) English Language Arts: Grade 6:
Integrated Resource Package 2006. Retrieved from Government of British Columbia
website: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/english_language_arts/2006ela_k7_6.pdf

Davis, Alan. (2004). Co-authoring identity: Digital storytelling in an urban middle school.
THEN: Technology, Humanities, Education, & Narrative, 1(1), 1. Retrieved
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from: http://thenjournal.org/feature/61/.

Digital Literacy in West Vancouver. (2011, February). Digital Literacy Newsletter.
Retrieved from http://sd45.bc.ca/parents/technology.html

Dogan, B. & Robin, B. (2008). Implementation of digital storytelling in the classroom by
teachers trained in a digital storytelling workshop. In K. McFerrin et al. (Eds.),
Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International
Conference 2008 (pp. 902-907).

Condy, J., Chigona, A., Gachago, D., & Ivala, E. (2012). Pre-service students perceptions and
experiences of digital storytelling in diverse classrooms. The Turkish Online Journal of
Educational Technology, 11(3), 278-285.

Gregori-Signes, C. (2008). Integrating the Old and the New: Digital Storytelling in the EFL
Language Classroom. GRETA Journal, 16(1), 43-49.

Hung, C-M., Hwang, G-J., & Huang, I. (2012). A project based digital storytelling approach
for improving students learning, motivation, problem-solving competence and learning
achievement. Educational Technology & Society, 15(4), 368-379.

Lee, S-Y. (2012). Storytelling supported by technology: an alternative for EFL children with
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learning difficulties. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 11(3), 297-
307).

Royer, R. & Richards, P. (2007). Increasing reading comprehension with digital storytelling.
In C. Montgomerie & J. Seale (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational
Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2007 (pp. 2301-2306).

Yang, Y.-T.C., & Wu, C.I. (2012) Digital storytelling for enhancing student academic
achievement, critical thinking, and learning motivation: A year-long experimental study
Computers & Education, 59, 339352.